BEN Miller and Caroline Catz star in a new comedy about a marriage in meltdown.

The new BBC1 comedy I Want My Wife Back introduces us to Murray, a hopeless people-pleaser who can’t say no to anyone. Run ragged by fulfilling commitments to friends and colleagues, Murray has no time left for his wife, who subsequently walks out on him on her 40th birthday.

Surprisingly, Ben Miller, who plays Murray, admits that he based the character on himself!

I feel like that’s one of the most extraordinary things that happened to me in my life, to live there for that period of time and enjoy a completely different outlook on life

Ben Miller

“I had me in mind while making this,” explains Ben, 50, with a grin. “I would rather drink hemlock at a dinner party than cause a ripple of social embarrassment.

“I used to get myself into ridiculous situations because I’m not honest with people and that’s what I identified with in Murray – he wants to be all things to all people. He doesn’t want to hurt people’s feelings, but sometimes you have to just a little bit to be honest with them.

BBC

I Want My Wife Back, Monday, 9.30PM, BBC1

“I’m constantly writing incredibly polite things on Twitter when sometimes I should just go, ‘Oh, sod off!’” admits Ben, laughing. “Somebody wrote something really nasty to me today and I wrote back, ‘Are you feeling OK? Because you seem a bit down.’”

But Ben’s failure to assert himself means he’s the perfect choice for this comedy, which reunites him with writers Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni – the trio had a hit with the 2004-6 sitcom The Worst Week Of My Life.

Ten years on, their new comedy is more bittersweet in tone than The Worst Week, making it more of a comedy-drama.

Ben concurs, “There is an alternative version of this show that is really sad. Quite often when we were doing it we were thinking we were making the other one, because we’d get so involved in the sadness of whatever was going on at that moment – I’d forget I was naked or wearing a thong or whatever.”

Caroline Catz, who plays Murray’s wife Bex, expands on the occasionally downbeat tone of the show by pointing out the reality of their situation.

“It’s picking up on all of those very real things that if you haven’t experienced a marriage break-up yourself, you’ve seen friends and family go through – there’s a circus that goes along with a break-up,” muses Caroline, 45.

Bex finally leaves Murray after he fails to turn up for her birthday breakfast.

“It’s the latest in a long list of him having commitments with other people,” muses Caroline. “They should have had more space to talk about things that weren’t right, but for some reason never did. They’ve reached a point where they haven’t been able to face up to something that’s difficult for them, which is that they don’t have children.”

The sitcom boasts another big comedy name – Jan Francis, of Just Good Friends fame, as Bex’s mother, Paula.

Jan, 68, says, “Paula and her husband adore Murray, almost more than their own children,” explains Jan. “So when this happens, they’re devastated. Paula never thinks she’s wrong and she’s tactless. It’s very fun.”

It’s a return to comedy for Ben, who got his big break in showbiz as half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. But Ben’s probably best known for his role as Richard Poole in the light-hearted murder-mystery series Death In Paradise (2011-14). Ben admits he misses the role and the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe where it was filmed.

“I feel like that’s one of the most extraordinary things that happened to me in my life, to live there for that period of time and enjoy a completely different outlook on life,” says Ben.

But for now he’s back in the realms of comedy as a man who just can’t get it right.

“The structure of the stories is very farcical, but the feeling behind it is all real,” says Ben, smiling. “Hopefully it ends up funny and not really depressing, though!”